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I received a call from a collection agency asking me to pay a debt that was charged off/last activity in 92.I have not heard from them for almost 12 years. They are not original debtor. He stated that it fell tough the cracks and that he has a right to harrase my credit,meaning put an inquiry every 30 days to ruin my credit score. Also he said he is not a collection agency but financial aquisition company. I have a perfect credit now. There were no judjments. He also stated that they could not find me - I lived in the same state all my life and always had published phone#. I checked and found my address and phone# very easily over the internet. They seem to be lying about few things. Can they do anything to my credit or my credit score? Do they have a right to put inquiries without my premission on my credit report every 30 days in order to lower my score?How can I put a complaint and stop calls and letters? Thanks!

Asked on 7/24/03, 8:51 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

They can impugn your credit and you cannot stop them, BUT from the facts you cite, it seems that same are not justifiable, constitute violations of various provisions of the Federal and Colorado Fair Debt Collection Practices Acts, and will give rise to a claim for actual damages you incur, statutory damages and attorney fees. The basis for the above opinion is it would appear from the facts you recite that the debt is clearly out of statute. Have you received anything in writing from the collector? You should have, and it must conform to various requirements of the statutes. Is the collector registered with the Colorado Collection Agency Board? You can determine this on the web by accessing the Colorado Attorney General's web site, then go the Collection Agencies. You can file a grievance with the Board. You can forward a copy of this to collector and advise them if your credit is denigrated to any extent by their conduct, they are liable for damages and attorney fees. Any attorney versed in this area of the law will take your case, and possibly on a contingency. If the conduct you describe is an established practice by the collector for the purpose to illegally victimize uninformed debtors, this could constitute the basis for a class action against the collector.